Centenarian wisdom...

If you know me, you probably know that I love quotes.

This one is a real treasure to me... 

I long to know the triumph of high achievement, even if it means that I fail while daring greatly.

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

Theodore Roosevelt, April 1910

What if...?

What if you could change the world with just a thought?

What if life came easily to you?
What if accolades were all you ever heard?
What if everyone who ever met you thought that you hung the moon and stars?
What if you never knew pain, suffering, disappointment, rejection, or humiliation?


Would you?


If you could change the world with just a thought, would you bother?
If life came easily to you, would you value it more...or less?
If accolades were all you ever heard, would you pass them on and honour others?
If everyone who ever met you thought that you hung the moon and stars, would you start to believe the same?
If you never knew pain, suffering, disappointment, rejection, or humiliation, would you really know what it's like to be alive?


I don't know about you, but I do know about me...


If I could change the world with just a thought, I probably wouldn't give it a second thought.
If life came easily to me, I would probably value it less...since I always seem to value things more when I have to work for them.
If accolades were all I ever heard, I probably wouldn't learn or grow much, and it probably wouldn't occur to me to give credit where credit is due.
If everyone who ever met me thought that I hung the moon and stars, I probably would feel the same...and that might very well change everyone's mind!
If I never knew pain, suffering, disappointment, rejection, or humiliation, I probably would think I was happy, but be missing out on what it's like to truly prevail.

But I'm thankful, because between eternity and this place where I stand today, these things exist for me...as a means to grow in knowledge, love, humility, honour, and passion.


That's exactly where I want to be.